How to Create a Membership Site That Makes Money
Creators usually sell content online but the current monetization streams are something else to earn a full-time income. It can be done by creating a membership site. It is the best way to earn a full-time income from your premium content. So get ready to monetize your content and create a community of loyal members to earn a stable monthly income.
Making a profit from your website is not an easy task, you need to have a great number of loyal members; so strategize on attracting your members and keep them loyal to you with your quality of content.
Here you will come to know how you can create a membership site from scratch.
In this article, we have provided step-by-step information on planning, building, and growing a membership site.
What is a membership site?
A membership site gives you next-level earning opportunities by combining exclusive content with the online community and monetizing your audience. Members of your website will get access to your content and community by paying recurring membership fees.
In simple words, you have to create content on a regular basis so your customers can stay loyal to you; plus they have to be your paid subscribers to access the content.
You can create a niche website as per your desire which includes online courses, standalone videos, live sessions, digital downloads, coaching, and much more.
Advantages of a subscription-based membership model:
- It creates a stable and predictable revenue source.
- With this model, you can build a long-term relationship with your audience.
- Membership sites can be easily created by putting a small amount of content in the early stage.
But, keep in mind it will take time and patience before Membership websites make money.
Choose a Membership Site Model:
Choose the membership site model that better suits your business needs. Clarify your mind and know what you are expecting from your membership model. There are different types of models so you have to pick the best one.
Here are some of the popular membership site models:
- Publisher Model: It is the best model for starters where you can post content based on a monthly, biweekly, or weekly routine. Mixery premium is one of the good examples of the Publisher Model. In this type of model, you have to pick a topic on which you can provide enough information and publish it from time to time.
- Drip Feed Model: It is similar to the Publisher model but requires a monthly subscription fee in order to give access to new content every month. This model releases content at a fixed schedule so members get the same content irrespective of the time they purchase the membership. TraianingBeta is the best example of a Drip Feed Model that runs an evergreen membership site. It provides information in smaller pieces so that members can thoroughly go through it and engage for a longer time.
- Online Course Model: Creating a membership site with this model can help you release your content gradually or divide it into steps with a barrier to accessing the next module. Alternatively, you can grant access to the entire course library once the signup process is completed by members. As soon as the members join the subscription they can access the whole course.
- Online Coaching / Group Coaching Model: Under this model, members can access a fixed number of sessions each month. It is suitable for live coaching, webinars, or office hours to make interaction. In this model, there is no need to create and publish bulk content.
- Online Community Model: Members have to pay a recurring fee to engage with other like-minded individuals and have conversations on a specific topic. This model includes forums, chatrooms, and discussion areas where members can interact with each other.
- Hybrid Model: As the name suggests this model is a combination of different models. With its flexibility to combine with different models a unique model can be built to provide subscribers with a better experience.
Plan Your Membership Website:
Now it’s time to discuss the content and engagement strategy.
Membership Content Strategy: First of all focus on quality of content rather than quantity. Make sure to publish content timely on your site. As long as your content is aligned with what your members want everything will be fine.
- Two essential types of content you must provide in your membership are Core Content and Monthly Content. Core content is the base content of your site relevant for all new members. It helps them to start their journey with you. Unlike core content, Monthly Content is published each month. For best results you have to decide on a specific format as per your content; it can be monthly training videos, Q&A sessions, live coaching calls, or expert interviews.
- Batch content production helps your members to stay longer with you and also you get enough time to publish each batch. Make sure you have a plan for 12 months with all the required information to make it genuine and evergreen.
- Member onboarding experience should be smooth and easy with a short welcome message. With a little tour of the layout and navigation make them familiar.
- Build an engaged online community and stay in touch with the members to solve their queries. Also, include blog posts, community discussions, polls, and quizzes to make interaction easy.
Membership Pricing Strategy:
It is a very important part of building a membership site. A good strategy can help you market your membership and improve membership retention. Decide the cost, monthly/ annual subscription plans, and membership level packages for each kind of member.
- Monthly/Annual Pricing: It is suggested to price your membership between $10 and $50 per month in the beginning. For hobby or passion niche keep it a little less and for informative niche you can go higher. After deciding on monthly charges also plan for quarterly, annual, and even lifetime payment options, most likely options needed are yearly plans. Apart from this, your membership model plus the content quality also affects your pricing strategy. Also, allow your members to cancel their subscriptions at any time. You can make it more attractive make it more attractive by providing a monthly subscription.
- Tiered Membership Pricing: Don’t forget to create multiple access levels as it is helpful in maximizing your average revenue per subscriber. By targeting different level users you can cover all types of members and earn more.
- Grandfathered Pricing: Under this scheme, your members can keep paying the same price for a subscription while the price for other members will be changed. It is helpful in covering the members by providing them with deals and offers by signing in within a time range.
Choose a Membership Site Platform
Here are some of the popular membership site platforms that you can choose for your business.
Kajabi:
Kajabi is a highly recommended all-in-one Membership Site Platform. It is the most flexible and feature-rich membership website builder among all the hosted platforms. In Kajabi creators can build a fully-fledged brand website, marketing blog, end-to-end funnels, run affiliate programs, create online courses with videos/ audios, content library, or just deliver some standalone training with its Product Themes feature. It also lets you create a private community for your members.
Mighty Networks:
Mighty Networks is focused more on community building and engagement where you can create articles, posts, polls, quizzes, and host live events. The best part is that you can create online courses within your community and then sell them separately or as part of the membership. With its inbuilt monetization tools, it is very easy to set the pricing for your membership and process payments.
Thinkific:
It is a online membership course platform where you can build a membership website with ease. It is best for building and running a membership website where you can build various courses including videos, assignments, quizzes, and live classes. It allows members to access the content as per their plan. Thinkific offers handy sales and marketing tools for membership websites which is a plus point.
Market Your Membership Site:
After building a membership site it is necessary to promote it to get new members.
- Create a Content Marketing Strategy: Publish content depending on your niche and hold the audience by providing them with valuable content. Focus on common platforms such as Facebook, LinkedIn, Youtube, Twitter, Reddit, and Pinterest and target your tribe.
- Build a Follow-Up Funnel: You must build an email list to manage your followers for which you’ll need an automated funnel. The main three components for a funnel are Lead Magnet to start with a free, useful resource that is attained by freebie customers get by subscribing to your mail. The second component is the Welcome Campaign to make customers aware of basic elements, and the third one is the Sales Campaign to sell your membership.
- Launch with technique: Launch your membership site for a small group of people and make them join at a lower price and then go for a larger group. Then know your audience and promote through affiliate marketing. It is suggested to start with a low budget first.
In conclusion, we can say that Membership websites make money and give your business a recurring revenue stream. All you have to do is post quality content according to your niche and build a strong community. Make sure your members are loyal.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a membership site?
A membership site is a type of subscription model where creators can provide content to subscribed members as per their niche.
What will I get from a membership site?
A membership site includes online courses, blog posts, podcasts, live coaching calls, Q&A sessions, and downloadable resources to its members.
What are the best platforms for a membership site?
Some of the best platforms for a membership site are Kajabi, Thinkific, and Mighty Networks.
